Welcome to the darker side of AICN! Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column. Trying to catch up on all of these Halloween releases is murder! My apologies these columns are so scattershot and not arriving on Fridays. Once October is over, I’m hoping for more of a solid schedule. But here’s gaggle of horror film reviews to guide you or dissuade you from checking out!
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There’s a Kickstarter that is getting close to finishing up for THE LIVING CORPSE: RELICS, a 160+ page original graphic novel that contains a brand new Living Corpse story as well as a ton of behind the scenes material. This sequel to THE LIVING CORPSE is from creators Ken Haeser, Buz Hasson and Blair Smith. Check out the Kickstarter page here to find out how to donate as well as what kind of incentives are offered in this campaign. If you have a few extra bills you think should go towards this cool project, follow the link and donate!
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On with the horror reviews!
(Click title to go directly to the feature)
Retro-review: THE LADY IN WHITE (1988)
The Boo Tube: SLEEP TIGHT Episodes 1-4 (2016)
THE GARLOCK INCIDENT (2012)
RAZORS (2016)
SATANIC (2016)
SHE WHO MUST BURN (2016)
KILLBILLIES (aka IDYLL/IDILA, 2016)
UNDER THE SHADOW (2016)
And finally…Light’s Out: Subbasement!
Retro-review: New on BluRay from The Shout Factory!THE LADY IN WHITE (1988)
aka THE MYSTERY OF THE LADY IN WHITEDirected by Frank LaLoggia
Written by Frank LaLoggia
Starring Lukas Haas, Len Cariou, Alex Rocco, Jason Presson, Katherine Helmond, Renata Vanni, Angelo Bertolini, Joelle Jacobi, Jared Rushton, Gregory Levinson, Lucy Lee Flippin, Tom Bower, Jack Andreozzi, Sydney Lassick, Rita Zohar, Hal Bokar, Rose Weaver, Henry Harris, Emily Tracy, Karen Powell, Karen Powell,
Retro-reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
Some pretty serious issues make THE LADY IN WHITE a touch more dangerous than your usual kids in peril/Amblin joint.
Set in 1962, human version of Fivel the Mouse Frankie (Lukas Haas) is peculiar kid who loves writing scary stories and all things Halloween. After a schoolyard prank goes wrong and he ends up being locked in a coat closet over night at the school, Frankie witnesses the murder of a young girl in ghostly form. This begins a mystery trying to solve the mystery of who killed the young girl and who is the ghostly woman in white who appears to Frankie in times of trouble. Accusations fly and the true murderer who thought he got away with the crime, ends up tracking Frankie down in order to keep these secrets covered.
Having only watched this film as a child, I was struck by the child-friendly way this film begins with, given the adult themes at play later on. It’s a fairy tale sort of innocence at play in the opening moments as we are introduced to the rambunctious Frankie, his loving father (Alex Rocco), and his troublemaking brother Geno (Jason Presson). Frankie and his brother race through the streets of their tiny hometown, cartoonishly running through nuns and sprinklers and traffic which all stop to avoid an accident. The accompanying music doesn’t really give way to the darkness that comes later in the film involving racism, pedophilia, and murder. I was taken aback by the copious use of the n-word throughout this film and while it was a sign of the times, it still was kind of a shock to see. The later moments, when the killer flirts closely with Frankie while teaching him how to shoot an arrow is equally disturbing (a sequence homaged in the original ABC’S OF DEATH installment “Y is for Young Buck” - see what I mean here). There is also a lot of murder going on as well. All of this together makes this anything but the kiddie flick the film suggests in the beginning.
Haas carries this film, despite the talented cast built around him. Though he is extremely twerpy-looking, he is pretty darn tough when it comes to taking on bullies, pedophiles, and ghosts alike. He holds his own with heavies such as Alex Rocco, Katherine Helmond, and Len Cariou and ends up being a pretty powerful protagonist.
The film itself feels like a product of its time, when people weren’t so sensitive about offending one another and films could show real kids talking in real ways. Using racial slurs were common in that day and while it may make us balk when we hear it, I respect this movie for not sugar coating things. And while the floating woman in white isn’t necessarily scary and the tragic story behind her death and the events that occur in the present and the past, add a palpable and authentic tragedy that modern films just can’t seem to muster. THE LADY IN WHITE is a truly beautiful, often haunting, and sometimes shocking film with more teeth than it initially bears. It’s one of those films that you can enjoy as a kid in one way with the kid triumphing over evil, but returning to it as an adult, and you realize there’s some fucked up stuff suggested between the lines. While it’s not so overt that I’d recommend not letting your kids watch it, THE LADY IN WHITE is a film adults and children can be entertained by for different reasons as it is playful and spooky, while dealing with some heavily, yet subtle themes as well.
New all month on Youtube’s AwesomenessTV!SLEEP TIGHT (Episodes 1-4, 2016)
Find all episodes at GO90Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
SLEEP TIGHT is a new webseries playing on the GO90/AwesomenessTV Youtube channel, so it’s available for everyone to check out. The series is a collection of short films, all less than 15 minutes apiece, most of which are stories trying to reinvent old urban legends and update them with modern technological twists. Apparently, starring in these series are YouTube sensations, but I didn’t recognize any of them. Like most series, there are some winners and some losers and this week I’m going to check out the first four of this eight episode series. Here goes...
Episode 1 – FEED
Directed by Jason Perlman
Written by Jason Perlman
Starring Beau Brooks, Anita Kalathara, Andrea Swain
This is a pretty basic one about a cheating boyfriend whose girlfriend catches him and decides to set him up to get a proper punishment. After being lured to a door in an alley, the boyfriend is pursued by a vampire/cat creature in a dress. Not much by way of story here, but there are some nice creepy moments using darkness and light and the monster itself moves in a chilling manner, especially in silhouette. I could take this one or leave it. This one is definitely a style over substance type of film.
Episode 2 – THE HOUSE
Directed by Colton Tran
Written by Colton Tran & Jason Perlman
Starring Meg DeAngelis, Matt Shively, Masha Malinina
A quartet of teenagers decide to take a trip to a brightly colored motel, one of them leaving his possessive little sister behind. This one is a nicely constructed little story, though it is a little too reminiscent of some of my favorite TWILIGHT ZONE episodes such as “It’s a Good Life” and “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” and if you’ve seen those episodes, you can probably put together what this one is about. This one has some decent acting and the pacing is ok. The ending is quite haunting, though it does ring very familiar to those classic TZ’s.
Episode 3 – RIDING WITH THE DEVIL
Directed by Jack Bishop & Justin Nijm
Written by Jacob Davidson & Jason Perlman
Starring Iliana Raykovski, Alyx Weiss, Tim Karasaw
I rather liked this twisted Uber driver tale about two young girls with their noses buried so deep into their phones that they don’t realize that their driver doesn’t really match his Uber profile pic. This one locale thriller is light and fluffy, but definitely has a dark tone and I loved the way this one wrapped up. This one utilizes modern tech like the cell phone and the Uber in fun ways and is worth checking out.
Episode 4 – SPECIAL RED
Directed by John William Ross
Written by John William Ross
Starring Jenn McAllister, Alexa Losey
This short is about an online app which is all the craze with the popular kids at school. Two outsiders refuse to accept the invitation and play the game, but when one of them breaks their oath to keep away from it, she quickly becomes addicted. Think THEY LIVE meets DISTURBING BEHAVIOR and you’ll get the gist of this one. Again, this one isn’t so much original as it is a fun modern twist on the old evils of conformity story. The A CLOCKWORK ORANGE way the app takes over ones mind is well done and there are some decent jump scares throughout this one as well, making it rather shallow fun.
I’ll pop back in a week or so and take a look at the final four episodes. These were fun to sit through. Nothing ground-breaking, but worth a peek if you’re looking for some safe GOOSEBUMPS style horror. You can watch all of these episodes for free on GO90 or on Youtube’s AwesomenessTV!
New this week on Redbox!THE GARLOCK INCIDENT (2012)
Directed by Evan J. CholfinWritten by Evan J. Cholfin
Starring Ana Lily Amirpour, Adam Chambers, Sean Durrie, Joy Howard, Alycen Malone, Sean Muramatsu, Casey Ruggieri, Larissa Wise
Find out more about these films here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
One of BLAIR WITCH PROJECT’s main criticisms from what I’ve heard is that the film is an awful lot of nothing until the end when nothing is shown. I don’t necessarily agree, but I can see why folks think that way. And if you do think that way, THE GARLOCK INCIDENT is going to be just as maddening. And while it can be argued that this films spends an awful lot of time following a group of people wandering around lost and alone in a secluded locale, I found the interactions between the cast and the depiction of the disintegration of societal norms, rights, and wrongs to be riveting to experience.
A low budget filmmaker (A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT director Ana Lily Amirpour) and her cast of good looking stars make their way in a van to Vegas to shoot their new film. With only one director serving as the crew, I am wondering what kind of film the director had in mind making, but it might have been established somewhere in the film that the rest of the crew was going to meet them in Vegas.Who knows? What matters is that the vanload of pretty people and their always-filming director decide to visit a ghost town area in the middle of the desert between Vegas and LA and end up being stranded. The car breaks down. The cell phones don’t work. And the area, according to one of the actors the area is known to be haunted by a miner who killed his family.
It’s a pretty typical “group gets lost and films it” scenario which relies very little on paranormal things happening and much more on the breakdown of the relationships between the group. As with most zombie films, the story isn’t about the zombies; it’s about how different types of people interact under a time of crisis. As the actors miss their cell phones, their posh hotel rooms, and their normal living conditions, stress levels raise as they begin blaming each other, turning on each other, and in the end tearing each other apart.
All of this is performed in a very convincing manner as the actors chosen for this film seem natural and real (which is the point of all found footage films). In that, THE GARLOCK INCIDENT is a very successful look at how one random factor can turn us into poo-flinging apes intent on self preservation for the sake of others. As a horror film, I think some may be disappointed in the lack of supernatural things that occur and the ending which works within the framework and limitations they have set up being all filmed by one camera, but ultimately feels a bit sudden.In the end, I liked THE GARLOCK INCIDENT because that type of psychological shit interests me. There are some good moments of tension some of the lost stumble upon a shed which appears to be abandoned and a blood spattered mine shaft, as well as some great interactions between some very talented unknowns. As with BLAIR WITCH, a mock site was set up feigning an effort to search for the cast and director here. Though it feels somewhat tragic and trite, it’s that kind of extra oomph that I feel permeates this film. As a well thought out and well performed descent into chaos, THE GARLOCK INCIDENT shines, but if BLAIR WITCH PROJECT wasn’t your thing, this film won’t be either.
New this week on DVD and On Demand from Breaking Glass Films!RAZORS (2016)
aka RAZORS: THE RETURN OF JACK THE RIPPERDirected by Ian Powell, Karl Ward
Written by Ian Powell, Karl Ward
Starring Vincent De Paul, Josh Myers, Kunjue Li, Kelby Keenan, Georgia Maguire, Khan Bonfils, Thomas Thoroe, Ian Weichardt, Iulia Benze, Jack Brown & Andrew Shire as Jack the Ripper!
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
The biggest problem with RAZORS is that it thinks it is so much smarter than it really is. Overwritten, overacted, over explained—the film tries so hard to let the viewer know how smart it is that it forgets to be entertaining and yes, even intelligent in execution.
A group of students are gathered by a professor specializing in the investigation of the paranormal, specifically, the unsolved case of Jack the Ripper. The students are supposed to work on the perfect script to illustrate the Ripper case, but are caught up in dreams, hallucinations, and real life murders seemingly by the Ripper himself.
The biggest problem with RAZORS is that it is overwritten as hell. The story is overtly complex, trying to liken the Ripper to Clive Barker’s Cenobites from HELLRAISER and layering this film with one annoying asshole character after another. There’s not a likable character in the bunch, which makes it hard when the Ripper starts ripping. The film over-explains pretty much every aspect going on, right down to a lengthy expository paragraph explaining everyone’s skill and purpose in the film at a long table conversation without end. A more capable story would not need such exposition about each character and would have just had the characters naturally show character traits through actions, but this film has a pulpit glued under its ass, so rather than have a story happen, it chooses to explain in boring detail what is going on, who characters are, and why they are doing what they are doing.
This is a film that filmmakers should watch to learn how not to tell a story. It’s a film in love with it’s own voice and so unconfident in its actors or story playing out in an effective manner that it feels the need to tell the viewer what is going on after the action. RAZORS is a tedious film to sit through. The Ripper story is a fascinating one, but this one is too busy smelling its own farts to take advantage of this ripe material. Skip it at all costs.
New on DVD/BluRay from Magnet Releasing!SATANIC (2016)
Directed by Jeffrey G. HuntWritten by Anthony Jaswinski
Starring Sarah Hyland, Steven Krueger, Justin Chon, Clara Mamet, Sophie Dalah, Anthony Carrigan, Marc Barnes, Stevin Knight
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
While the premise is highly unbelievable and most of the cast utterly unlikable, SATANIC manages to offer up a topsy turvy thrillride in the latter half of the film once the creepy starts creeping.
A group of suburban kids decide to head out to LA for spring break in order to take a tour of the most famous satanic spots in LA. After being somewhat non-plussed with what they find at these tourist spots, they decide to follow a clerk in a Satanic book store after he gets off work and witness what looks to be a sacrificial offering as a young girl seems to be about to be killed by the robed Satanists. Interfering with the ritual, the foursome dash to their car and drive off into the night with the Satanists giving chase at least part of the way. Of course, one of them leaves there cell phone on the property, and when someone calls them to return their phone, they end up meeting the girl that was about to be sacrificed. Seems she’s nuts and manages to curse the entire group with some Satanic mojo, sending the whole Scooby Crew into a labyrinthine nightmare that seems impossible to escape.
What works is the latter half. There is some nice seeding going on in the first half that really pays off during the climax. Some creepy effects, quick edits, and a solid performance from the huge eyed lead Chloe (Sarah Hyland) help in making the final minutes of this film truly terrifying. While Satanism is often dismissed and clichéd in horror films, this one manages to make a statement about both the posers and the legit folks attracted to this religion. This theme of distinguishing what is simply cool and what is actually a part of the dark arts runs all through the film and I kind of loved it tat is decided to look at the oft maligned and stereotyped culture in this way,
That said, it’s really hard to like these kids. The main reason is because despite things like good judgment and simple common sense, everything is driven to plunge these kids into the darkness. If that would have happened naturally, but too many times characters who are skeptical and non-committal to this tour of Satanism make decisions that push the characters into the obvious direction in order for things to get interesting. In too many places, you can see the screenwriters hand manipulating these characters towards the interesting hell bits towards the end. But the manipulation simply isn’t realistic. Who chooses to spend their college spring break touring Satan spots? It’s this major and unexplained leap that is pretty integral for the viewer to believe everything that happens afterwards, but the set up simply fails in presenting this path in a logical and believable fashion. Two of the kids are goth, while the other two are as vanilla as can be and while I can believe the goth kids might try this, it’s quite a leap that these poser goth kids and the straight-laced couple would occupy the same space.
When the scares start coming, SATANIC works. There are some decently strong performances, but this film has problem with initial motivation and believability in the decisions of the characters. It’s a cliché that the audience gets mad at the kids on screen for bone-headed and unrealistic decisions, SATANIC falls into that cliché way too many times. If you can get past that, there are some scares to be had, you just have to swallow a lot of failed logic in order to get there.
New this week on DVD and On Demand from Midnight Releasing!SHE WHO MUST BURN (2015)
Directed by Larry KentWritten by Larry Kent & Shane Twerdun
Starring Sarah Smyth, Andrew Moxham, Andrew Dunbar, Jewel Staite, Missy Cross, Steve Bradley, Peri Creticos, Jim Francis, Bart Anderson, Nancy Sivak, Shane Twerdun, James Wilson
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
While this film is guilty of black and whiting the characters into basically two categories; those who follow religion who are sadistic zealots and those who work for planned parenthood and are angelic heroes, it still is a moving and gruelingly vicious little horror film tackling terrors outside our window rather than under our beds.
Angela (Sarah Smyth) works in a planned parenthood clinic in a small Midwestern town populated by a Christian group who strongly disagrees about the services she offers the community. While her husband (the local deputy) attempts to keep the protesters off their lawn (Angela’s practice is in her home – word to the wise, this is a bad idea), Angela does her best to persevere and continue to handle issues that some biblical types deem heretical. When the leader of the flock, Caleb (Andrew Dunbar) rapes and beats his wife Margaret (Jewel Staite), she goes to Angela to find help. Sending her away to a shelter, Caleb and his followers show up to Angela’s home demanding to know where she has sent his wife which escalates into a harrowing chase through the countryside as the word of God is warped due to personal demons.
Now, I’ve seen some evil religious people and some good ones. I’ve seen some well intentioned therapists and some people who shouldn’t be allowed to speak to another human being, much less give them advice. That’s what is great about the real world—it has all kinds of people in it. SHE WHO MUST BURN doesn’t necessarily reside in the real world. It is a film with a definite message; religion = bad, social work = good. And that’s fine and dandy, but it just a very simplistic way of telling a story. Personally, I wouldn’t mind to have been introduced to one of the religious flock who isn’t a total psychopath or even a therapist who isn’t deemed flawless. Grey area characters always make the thematic debate all the more interesting and I think if this film would have had a little grey in it, the whole thing would have been much more resonant.
That said, there is a whole lot to love about SHE WHO MUST BURN. While the main antagonist Caleb (Andrew Dunbar) is your typical religious psychopath/hypocrite who rapes his wife and still quotes from the bible, the horror he unleashes and controls at his whim is pretty harrowing. Much more terrifying is Rebecca, Caleb’s sister played by Missy Cross who speaks in tongues and carries a big hickory stick. The scene where she home births a baby and loses it is nightmarish and surprisingly authentic as this seems to be Rebecca’s breakin point in the film. But that’s just a testament to what this film does right, which is juggling multiple characters and giving them all purpose to the plot and how it proceeds. Rebecca is but one fascinating character in this film. The not so subtly named Angela (Sarah Smyth) is another compelling character as she must face Caleb and his flock alone and is pushed to the breaking point. Her ordeal at the hands of the religious folk is horrific and something that one will never forget. Other actors such as Steve Bradley who plays the cowardly Daryl and is given a lot of scenery to chew on here and SERENITY’s Jewel Staite who plays Caleb’s abused wife are given powerful characters to play that are intrinsic to the story.
While the story might over simplify things, I was definitely moved by it. The harrowing scenes that occur in pretty much through this entire narrative give us a glimpse of real life horror that is difficult to shake. Writer/director Larry Kent does a fantastic job of juggling various characters and given each of them a time to shine with terrifyingly memorable moments. You won’t soon forget SHE WHO MUST BURN after viewing it. It is a classic tale of good vs. evil. I just wish the argument could have been as fleshed out as the rest of the characters in this one.
New this week on DVD/BluRay and On Demand from Artsploitation Films!KILLBILLIES (aka IDILA aka IDYLL, 2015)
Directed by Tomaz GorkicWritten by Tomaz Gorkic
Starring Nina Ivanisin, Lotos Sparovec, Nika Rozman, Sebastian Cavazza, Jurij Drevensek, Manca Ogorevc, Damjana Cerne, Matic Bobnar, Damir Leventic, Ajda Smrekar, Liza Marija Grasic, Kaja Janjic, Klemen Nadler, Polona Torkar, Luka Zivec, Nada Bozic, Kristof Modic, Jana Nucic, Tomaz Pangersic
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
IDYLL aka IDILA aka KILLBILLIES is the first horror movie produced and filmed in Slovenia and after viewing this one, I hope it’s not the last!
A pair of models, their manager, and a photographer go out to the countryside for a photo shoot and run afoul of a group of hillbilly cannibals who want to fondle, assault, and kill them for their blood which is distilled into a liquor called Idyll which has become highly popular in local pubs and clubs.While the premise is quite simple and pretty much the premise of every TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and WRONG TURN movies; a bunch of people go out to the forest and run into hillbillies, IDILA follows the formula with a lot of style and class. Soaking in the Slovenian landscape makes the film immediately different than the usual backcountry environment one usually sees this type of film in. The amazing mountains and hills in the background, coupled with the ruins found overgrown with the fauna makes for a juxtaposition of the dangerous and the beautiful. In the same way, there is the same juxtaposition between the gorgeous Nina Ivanisin (who is a dead ringer for THE WOMAN’s and Nika Rozman and the deformed hill folk played by Lotos Sparovec and Jurij Drevensek (who wear makeup that looks so real, I’d swear they were actually deformed people). The performances by all are as fantastic as the scenery around them.
What separates this film from many of its ilk is that not only does this look different, but filmmaker Tomaz Gorkic has a firm grasp on how to milk a scene to its full capacity for tension. Partially due to the fine acting involved, this is a suspense filled film. But this is also due to the handling of pulse-pounding quiet moments as the models attempt to escape the monstrous madmen’s lair. This is one film that will make you occupy the edge of your seat for much of the film.Some fantastic effects also make IDILA shine brightly. Again, it’s hard to tell if the actors are wearing makeup or not, but once the blood is shed, these moments feel chillingly real due to the complexity and subtlety of the gore shown. This is one good looking, harrowingly effective, sublimely acted, and gruelingly bloody film. IDILA or IDYLL or KILLBILLIES, whatever it is called, is one international film that shouldn’t be missed as it shows once again that some of the best in horror happens outside of the American borders.
In select theaters and On Demand from Vertical Entertainment!UNDER THE SHADOW (2016)
Directed by Babak AnvariWritten by Babak Anvari
Starring Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Ray Haratian, Arash Marandi, Behi Djanati Atai, Hamid Djavadan, Soussan Farrokhnia, Aram Ghasemy, Nabil Koni
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
A lot has been said about UNDER THE SHADOW being this year’s THE BABADOOK. And while I can see the similarities; the focus on a stressed out mother and child, a boogeyman that may or may not exist in the dark periphery, and strong themes that resonate outside of the norm for the horror genre, I feel the film just can’t live up to that kind of hype as it lacks an overall shock and chill factor.
Sideh (Narges Rashidi) is an Iranian mother immersed in pressure, both from a culture which is difficult to accept a woman’s individual voice and the difficulties of raising a young child in the middle of a warzone. But things get even worse when her daughter complains of voices and apparitions taking shape in the night. Written off as the imagination of a child, Sideh is terrified to find out that her daughter’s complaints are real and a Djinn is haunting their home as it is also barraged by daily missile attacks.
OK, before I give praise to this film, I have to just keep it real here and say the following.
Call me insensitive, but the biggest problem with UNDER THE SHADOW is that the monster is…wait for it…a sheet. You know the creature at the beginning of THE FRIGHTENERS? The carpet/sheet/grim reaper creature? Under the direction of Peter Jackson and the effects of some extremely capable folks, it was pretty cool. But given the limited budget of this film, it’s not even as scary as that because it just kind of whips around corners and plumes up from the floor. I understand there may be some kind of cultural significance to the sheet or fabric or curtain or whatever it is that is tormenting this family, but watched by an American without much knowledge of Iranian culture (and no reference of the significance of the sheet is given in the film), it’s just a sheet. Now, I get the significance of what this sheet represents. It symbolizes the covering that Iranian women must wear when they leave the home. It is a symbol of a culture that covers up femininity for religious/selfish/egotistical/possessive/male dominated reasons. I get that this is a feminist film and one that shows a woman’s battle with being quieted, silenced, covered up, and unnoticed. Again, this is a strongly resonant film because of this metaphorical weight and I don’t want to diminish this type of struggle or the power of this metaphor. But still, I’m here to talk about not only the metaphor, but how effective this film is in terms of scares, thrills, and chills. And I’m sorry, but this is a movie where a woman fights desperately against a spotted sheet for the life of family and I just can’t say it hits me on that level. Just sit back and let that soak in—it’s a movie about a woman fighting a sheet and looking at it that way, cultural sensitivity be damned, it’s kind of fucking goofy!
I won’t argue that this is not a well acted film. Narges Rashidi is amazing in the lead as the conflicted mother who wants to go back to school after a life of protesting, as well as the conflicts she experiences as a mother trying to do the best for her child in the middle of bombing and all out war. She does a fantastic job, comparable to Essie Davis’ role of a pressured mother in THE BABADOOK, but while Rashidi is put through the ringer by her needy child and the situation they are in, Davis runs circles around her in her role and comparisons are downright offensive. I hate to compare UNDER THE SHADOW to THE BABADOOK so much, but if you are going to compare that movie to the other, it’s hard not to talk about the blaring differences between the two.
UNDER THE SHADOW is full of metaphor about female oppression. It shows a woman ahead of her time caught in a culture with many archaic thoughts and represents the terror of being caught in this culture, filled with war, discrimination, and oppression in a very effective way. UNDER THE SHADOW is a fantastically acted drama exemplifying what it would be like to be caught in such a society with nowhere to run and hide. But because the monster looks like Charlie Brown’s costume in IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN CHARLIE BROWN, it just doesn’t have the scares to match the strong metaphor this film presents.
And finally…Here’s another fun radio play from yesteryear. This LIGHT’S OUT feature is called “Subbasement.” Oooooo, sounds spooky! Enjoy!
See ya next week, folks!
Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, original @$$Hole/wordslinger/writer of wrongs/reviewer/interviewer/editor of AICN COMICS for over 15 years & AICN HORROR for 5. Follow Mark on the Twitters @Mark_L_Miller and on his new website collecting posts for AICN HORROR as well as all of the most recent updates on his various comic book projects on MLMillerWrites.com.
A quick plug for my own work. I have a new comic book coming out this December called THE JUNGLE BOOK HOLIDAY SPECIAL: BAGHEERA’S SECRET. It’s a one shot reteaming my original JUNGLE BOOK artist Carlos Granda and myself (the same team who created PIROUETTE) and it is available to order now via Previews order# OCT162113. I’m getting pages of this book by the day and this book looks absolutely amazing so far. Fans of jungle adventure are going to love it! Please support me by telling your local comic book store to order tons of issues of this comic! Much appreciated, folks.
Look for Johnny Destructo, Stephen Andrade, Christian DiBari, and my own ramblings about random horror films on CultPop/PoptardsGo and Ain’t It Cool on AICN HORROR’s CANNIBAL HORRORCAST Podcast every other Thursday (or so…)!
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TFAW carries everything from comics to toys and any kind of collectible in between. Show your support for AICN HORROR and TFAW and click the pic above. You just might find something you can’t live without such as Cullen Bunn’s excellent Southern Gothic Horror Tale from Dark Horse Comics!
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